Creature Feature #260: Gar

The Gar are a Family of primative ray-finned fish, inhabiting the rivers and streams of America. He is a heavily armoured fish, characterised by his elongated snout. As the waters he occupies are often stagnant, with little oxygenation, he will periodically surface to gasp in air. His diet consists mainly of fish and crustaceans, which are captured with his needle-sharp teeth. This hardy fish is edible, although more often taken as a trophy-fish, and once his scales were used as arrowheads, and his skin to make breastplates or cover the blades of plows.

Creature Feature #259: Gannet

The Gannet is a skilled diver. He will plunge from heights of up to 30m, achieving speeds of up to 100 km/hr and enabling him to dive much deeper than most seabirds. He is superbly adapted for this, with no external nostril holes and air sacs in his face and chest to prevent damage from impact with the water. His eyes are positioned far forward, affording him powerful binocular vision and allowing him to precisely pinpoint his prey. Every year, flocks gather in the same place to breed, with some colonies numbering over 10,000 birds.

A Blast from the Past - an extract from my "first" novel

Recently I have been introduced to Writing Excuses, an excellent podcast featuring one of my favourite (and only recently discovered) fantasy authors, Brandon Sanderson. One thing they discuss is how your first novel will beyour "practise novel". This is somewhat reassuring to me, because I have written enough "practise" novels now to almost be skilled at it. Anyhow, they also have in the recent ones I've been listening to, been sharing their own "first novels" and dissecting them.

so, I thought I would share the first passage of my first fantasy novel (not counting the one about satanists in the sewers, let's leave that one where it belongs - downstairs printed on dot matrix paper). This is my first fantasy epic, which is highly, extremely derivative, as it was inspired by the Helloween song "Keeper of the Seven Keys" with characters based on the members of the band (names have been changed) and yeh... I was a little bit obsessive.

However, the writing style is actually passingly decent, so here, without further ado, is the first passage of "Keeper of the Seven Keys", the derivative novel.

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A lonely human figure picked its way through the empty streets of the village. It was early evening, but the darkness was so absolute, so complete, that it could have been the middle of a moonless night. The young man scrabbled through the garbage that littered the alleyway, desperately searching for something. In his callused hand he clasped his only possession of any worth, a small dark stone. To all but the trained eye, this stone seemed like a useless keepsake, but it was in fact a seeker stone, a stone that could be used to find particular items. This one was poor quality however; all it was able to detect was small coins. At the moment it was pulsing with warmth suggesting there was a coin in the vicinity. This was what he needed, money, needed it to feed his hunger. But not a hunger for food. For this young man was addicted to 'Myrth', a most powerful narcotic so named because of its effect on the user. The coin eluded his searching fingers.

A thin tendril of coldness ran down the back of the addict, icy fingers were reaching for him. He straightened up, turning and found himself staring into the face of danger. A dark, intangible shape with eyes so black that they glowed with an unlit radiance loomed before him, reaching for him. Pushing himself against the wall, he faced his adversary. He had heard of these monsters, who hadn't in this godsforsaken town? But had never seen one. Known as dream demons, or phantoms of death, they were rumoured to be from beyond the mortal realms and had materialised in this village soon after the last dawn had passed. Stuttering, afraid, the young man offered a silent prayer to any of the gods that might be listening. The phantom came closer, its shape expanding to engulf him. There was nothing he could do, he had no weapon except... his hand was warm. Why was that? The stone! Gritting his teeth and hoping upon hope, he threw the small missile at the main bulk of the phantom. His aim was true, the black, swirling mist engulfed the stone and the phantom seemed to become smoke, to separate.

"I killed it," he whispered breathlessly. "I defeated a phantom!" His heart leapt with joy. But wait, the smoke was coalescing into a figure again. The young man, realising this, turned swiftly from the alleyway and ran for his life.

The lights of the temple reached out to him, banishing the darkness. They were always lit, for in these dark times many of the villagers would seek sanctuary in the arms of the gods they worshipped. And although there were many gods, there was just one temple. Here should offer sanctuary. It was said that the phantoms could not venture into light and warmth, since they were from the pits of the frozen nether regions and had been released by the will of the god of darkness. The hunted man collapsed in a heap just inside the entrance, feeling the warmth and the light of the gods, or the church anyway, embrace him, luring him into sleep.

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Creature Feature #258: Galaxias

The Galaxias are a Genus of small freshwater fish, found in southeast Australia and  New Zealand with representatives in South America and Africa. They are specialised in living in the higher, cooler climates such as alpine streams, rivers and lakes. Despite this, many species include a marine stage in their life cycles. Larvae are washed out to sea to develop, swimming back up the river as small fry. The introduction of trout to New Zealand waterways has severely and negatively impacted many of these fish species, with populations now becoming fragmented and restricted. This wee fellow is a New Zealand Flathead Galaxias, his range restricted to a few rivers in Otago.

For more on freshwater fish of New Zealand, look out for Inanga and Kokopu.

Creature Feature #257: Galah

The Galah is a species of cockatoo, widespread across Australia. She favours the open country and occupies urban environments, benefitting from human colonisation. She flocks with others of her species, or occasionally corollas. Her mate bond is long-term and monogamous,  Her nest is built in tree hollows and both parents share the incubation. She is a popular bird in the pet industry and she has been known to interbreed with Major Mitchells and Little Corollas, as well as, most unusually, her smallest relative, the cockatiel.

"Galah" has become an Australian slang term for "fool" or "idiot". Like all parrots, however, Galah are no fool, although they are noted for being noisy.

Creature Feature #256: Galago

The Galago, or Bushbaby, are several species of small, nocturnal primate native to the African continent. The female forms a social groups with her sisters and their babies, while the male maintains his own overlapping territory, coming into contact with the females to breed. The troop travel together, following each others' cries and marking the path with urine. At the end of the night of foraging for insects, they all gather together in a nest made from leaves or a hollow tree. Like most primates they are highly social, engaging in mutual grooming, chasing each other through the branches and mock skirmishes.

Creature Feature #255: Fur Seal

And thus concludes the Fs.

The Fur Seal is characterised by her dense coat of underfur, intermingled with longer guard hairs. These provide her with insulation against the cold water and also made her desirable to trappers during the 19th century. She is able to turn her hind limbs beneath her body, and hold herself upright with her front limbs, which allows her to move on all fours at some speed. This is a trait she shares with Sea Lions, but is not found in the "true" seal species. The male is up to five times her size. During breeding season, the females come ashore and gather in groups, which are lorded over by the dominant male. Here she will birth her pup and mate in preparation for the following year.